Costa Blanca, Or How To Live Like A Buddhist Monk In Spain

I was young, innocent and jet-lagged when I first arrived to Costa Blanca, and I felt lost. The world I knew had disappeared, and there was this zen, endless and brilliant one taking its place.

Costa Blanca

Costa Blanca is a fairly new discovered corner of heaven. Though the rocks, the sun and the sea have been here since ever, the Spanish weren't much interested in it. It wasn't until recent years when developers saw its potential and beautiful Mediterranean white houses sprang up oven night like mushrooms after rain. But rain had little to do with this, if anything at all.

You might say now that Denia, Benidorm, Torrevieja, Alicante, Altea and other cities and villages have been here for centuries. Yes, they were indeed. But I don't want to talk about them here. What I want to talk about are the newly developed urbanizations around them.

Beach front bar with sun beds

Basically, what the Spanish didn't want, the North Europeans wanted. Spain has many beaches. Why would the Spanish want even more beaches to care for? No, the truth is they didn't. They were happy with the beautiful and well maintained ones where they were already spending their holidays.

But here comes a brilliant mind along the way... and the thinking process ends up with a real estate boom. If you thought Gibraltar was the only corner of England in Spain, you were terribly wrong. Whole urbanizations along Costa Blanca are predominantly English. Irish, German and Norwegian urbanizations are frequent too. As I said before, what the Spanish didn't want, others wanted. And once RyanAir introduced the cheap flights to Murcia and Alicante, well, it happened the same it happened when they introduced the cheap flights to Lanzarote - the crowds started pouring in!

Small port along the Costa Blanca

Tens of thousands of people from across Europe bought vacation houses on Costa Blanca in the last 10-15 years. Why? You might think that many people can not be wrong. And they aren't.

Costa Blanca is just perfect for cheap beach holidays. With less than 20 days of rain per year, and when I say rain I don't really mean rain, but a few drops of water falling from the sky to settle down the dust, I must admit that during the time I lived here I even got to miss the real rain and a good storm.

Clouds are a rarity on Costa Blanca too, and I got to treasure them and see them as something special, the occasional pinch of color on an otherwise eternal perfectly blue sky. I'm such a Drama Queen, I know :)

Wild flowers next to Costa Blanca beach

As I'm a sucker for green landscapes, I was happy to find some gorgeous wild flowers along the beach promenades. They might not be much, but they are a symbol of endurance between otherwise burned grass fields. Because of the sun, and the heat and the lack of rain, you know?

Beautiful wild flowers

One other thing I loved about Costa Blanca was that there was enough space to breath. The beautiful and spacious white houses, were, well... houses. Nothing stood in the way of my sight, except maybe a gorgeous old palm tree (did you know some palm tree varieties are pretty slow growers and they can live for hundreds of years?). The blue sky was predominating the views. And there was the sea and the more or less virgin beaches. The sandy ones? Perfect! And far from crowded! But I loved the rocky seaside just as much, because it was here where the weaves hit the shores performing a fabulous dance.

Costa Blanca beach

Now, truth being told, where there are people, bars and restaurants can't miss either. Some of the best Irish pubs and Chinese restaurants are here. And they are CHEAP! You can have a Chinese menu for as little as €6, drinks included. But anything from Spanish cafeterias to fancy Indian restaurants welcome you with open arms. The hotels and the budget holiday rentals are plenty too. After all, the whole Costa Blanca is breathing and surviving on tourism. There are almost as many restaurants and bars here as permanent residents.

Costa Blanca is relaxing. Even the most stressed out person in the world can become a Buddhist monk here. The beach bars hold parties all night long and during the summer months many young people sleep on the beach, but otherwise the area is quiet and serene.

Sunrise on Christmas day on Costa Blanca

One of my best Christmases was here. I woke up early on Christmas day and went to the beach to watch the sun rise from the sea. The temperature was just perfect, and the rest of the day I spent walking around in T-shirt. It was probably the most memorable Christmas ever and the feeling of accomplishment was tremendous.

What's your favorite beach holiday destination?

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